Well Eric, for once you bring up an interesting question.
Yes, Norway's prison system is more "rehabilitative" then "punitive" like that of the US. There are advantages to both systems, just as there are disadvantages. Norway's system tends to actually work to rehabilitate prisoners. They realize that in many, if not most, cases a person is a product of their environment and as a result that product can be changed somewhat. Therapies including massage, counselling, vocational training, and other means are employed to both punish an individual while retraining them to adhere to societies standards of behavior. Yes it is more relaxed however they are still locked up and restricted in their movements and activities. As a result, when people come out of Norway's system, by in large, they are able to reintegrate back into society in a meaningful way. Their system also recognizes that some people are beyond rehabilitation and those persons are locked up longer if not indefinitely.
Under the American system they tend to prefer to lock em up and throw away the key for the duration of someone's sentence. As a result they do not receive any form of treatment or counselling for their issues and in many cases they come out worse then when they went in. Long periods of confinement may make the general citizen better about sending someone to prison but it tends to breed greater problems for the prisoners who will one day be released back into society worse off then when they went into prison. They learn new illegal skills, foster connections within the criminal environment and tend to become better, more bitter and more polished criminals. However, and this never ceases to amaze me about the American people, they feel better because "I guess we showed them" by putting someone into prison and not working on the issues that made them a criminal. Seems kinda counter productive to me.
Due to our proximity to the US people in Canada are tending to prefer the American model even though it has been proven to not work. We are finding more and more "super-Max" type prisons being built in Canada and more and more people seem to want to, in my opinion, take the easy way out and lock em up.
Personally, I'd rather put someone in prison for a period of time (as determined by the severity of their crime) and know that we are working to "fix" them so that one day they can return to society as productive members. Recognizing of course that some people are beyond that point of being "saved" or "fixed" and will need some form of dangerous offender label to keep them locked up. No matter how comfortable we may feel the prison system in Norway (and other countries) is it does tend to work for those societies and, in the end, these people are still locked up. Just imagine spending the rest of your life, locked in your home with no ability to come and go as you want and only half the comforts of home (no internet, basic cable, small area to move around in....) and I'm certain you would not view if favourably after a short time.
There is a good video that was put out in 2003 by the Telefilm Canada called "To Kill or To Cure" which looked at the prison system in the US and compared it to Japan and (I believe) Denmark as well as that of Canada to examine what system(s) worked and which didn't. Very interesting and regardless of the academic conclusions arrived at by the study there will still be the vast majority of Americans and Canadians who will say "I don't care about the study results....I still say lock them up".
I'd rather punish someone while working to return them to society eventually.